Seal-lock



' UNITED STATES l PATENT OFFICE.

BRADFORD SHERMAN SHAW, OF LAURINBURG, ASSIGN OR OF ONE-HALF TO W. R. BARKSDALE, OF WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

SEAL- LOCK.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Fatent No. 536,585, dated March 26, 1895. Application ined Aprn s, 189s. smal No. 469,515. (Model.)

To all whom t may concern,.--

Beit known that I, BRADFORD SHERMAN SHAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Laurinburg, in the county of Richmond and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seal-Locks, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to seal locks of the kind commonly used on freight car doors, and is intended to provide a simple and cheaper seal lock, and one giving a greater guaranty of proper operation.

Figure I, shows the lock (except the hasp which is shown in Fig. V) with the lock bolt, R, and its bearings, f, and d, the staple, e, and the seal frame, 0,19, q, fr. Fig. II, shows the lock bolt alone with its ring, a, its notch, b, and its knife, c. Fig. III, shows lthe end of the seal lock as it appears if looking at the upper end of Fig. I.v Fig. IV, shows a longitudinal section of the seal-lock with the lock bolt R, in the` position it has when locked. Fig. V, shows the lock as it appears when on the car door, except that it has here a horizontal instead of a vertical position, an'd shows the hasp locked under the lock bolt.

The same letters refer to the same parts throughout.

The entire lock frame Fig. I, including the bearings, f, and d, and the staple, e, are of one piece of metal. The lock bolt R, Fig. II, has in one end a ring, a, on its side a notch, b, with the shoulder of the notch toward the ring right angled, and in the other end from the ring, a, projecting piece of netal, sharp or blunt, which acts as a defacer of the seal. The notch, b, and the knife, c, are on opposite sides of the rod. The knife c is so placed that when the boltR is at its uppermost limit, the knife will just clear the upper side of the seal frame o, p1 qv 7'- The frame of the lock, n, n, n, Fig. I, has at one end an elevated portion, d, forming a bearing for the lock bolt, R, at the other end another bearing, f, and between these two bearings the staple, e, over which tits the hasp, H, Fig. V. The journal box in the bearing, d, is made the exact size of the lock-bolt, R, so that the latter is prevented by the ring, a, at one end and the knife, c, at the other from sliding entirely out of the journal box. Thel .'ring a, is so made as to be easily removed from the lock bolt.

In the journal-box lo, along that side of the said journal-box nearest to the seal frame, o, p, q, fr, is a groove, h, which runs longitudinally with said journal-box, k, and opens into the face of the seal frame along the line indicated by the letters 6,15, Fig. I, and along aline in the side of said journal-box 7c, which line shall run longitudinally with the journal box k, and parallel with the direction of groove h is another groove, ,which does not extend of to the outer face the bearingf. The groove, t', is represented in mydrawings as lying at an angle of ninety degrees around the journal box, k, from the groove h, but it may lie at any convenient angle.I These grooves, t' and h are made of a suitable size andshape to admit of the passage of the knife, c, through them as the bolt, R, is pushed in or out of the journal box, la. Extending around the journal-box, lc, at the end shown in Fig. III, is a flange,"m, (seen better in Fig. V) which is cnt away between, 'i and h. i

The outer face of the bearing, f, is enlarged so as to form the frame o, pg, fr, Fig. I For holding the seal in the upper edge of this frame is an opening wide enough to admit easily the card seal. This seal may be of card board, of thin metal, orof both, and is made of sufficient length to extend when in position above the seal frame and above the point of highest elevation to which the knife c may be carried, as pointed out above. In the rear part of the bearing, f, as shown in Fig. IV is a recess into which are fitted a metal gravity catch, A, and a flat spring, B. The recess opens into the journal-box, k, at, Z, and the point of the gravity catch, A, projects through this opening into the journal-box as shown in Fig. I, but may be pressed back flush with the side of the journal-box. The flat spring, B, is screwed firmly by its upper end to the lock frame, and its lower end is curved at, to aord a support for the gravity catch. The catch is so arranged that there is no play in the recess and any force exerted upward (and that is the only direction any force can be exerted) on it falls on the upper shoulder of the lock frame instead of on the spring, B. The spring B, and catch, A, are both protected IOO from improper interference by being entirely covered by the lock frame when the latter is in position, as may be seen from Fig. V.

My lock is attached to the car, or car-door, by bolts extending through to the interior of i the car, and there secured by nuts. The heads of these bolts are let in ush with the outer edge of the lock frame, and one of them is placed underneath the lock bolt, R. These precautions are taken to provide against intermeddling by removing the lock.

Having described my invention, I will now describe its operation.

The seal card is first introduced through the aperture in the upper part of the frame, 0,19, q, o, leavingaportion of the card extending above the frame. The bolt, R, is inserted in the bearing, d, the ring, a, having been first removed, and then the ring is replaced. While the bolt is in the position shown in Fig. I, the hasp, H, is placed over the staple, e. The bolt is then pushed forward until the knife, c, reaches the bearing, f, the end of the bolt having entered the journal-box, k. The bolt is then revolved to the left until the knife, c, comes opposite to the groove, t'. The bolt is then pushed forward through the j ournal-box, 7c, the knife passing through the groove, t', until the knife clears the groove,z`, at the opposite end from which it entered. The bolt is then revolved to the right th ro ugh an angle of ninety degrees, the knife passing along the space where the flange, m, is removed as shown in Fig. III. The knife after this rotary movement being then opposite the groove, 72, at its upper end, the bolt is drawn down, whereby the knife, c, enters the groove, h. When the bolt is being revolved, before being drawn downward the knife, c, impinges against that portion of the seal card that extends above the frame, 0,19, q, fr, as pointed out above,

`and as soon as the bolt is drawn downward the knife immediately cuts into the seal card, leaving however, the upper portion of the seal card uncut. This uncut portion of the seal card holds together the severed portions of the card. When the knife, c, is in position to pass through the groove, h, the notch, b, is at the rear part of the rod, and so placed that the moment the knife in its downward movement becomes hid underneath the frame, o,

p, q, a", the notch, b, is caught b v the gravity i hole, shown in model, and through the lock' bolt, R, is another hole of ysame size, these holes being so situated that they come in line one with the other at the moment the lock bolt, R, is caught by the catch, A, in notch, b. The usual wire may then be introduced through these holes and sealed with the usual lead seal. This makes the lock twice locked, once by the catch, A, and once by the wire and lead seal just mentioned.

In a seal lock, in combination, the lock frame, the seal frame, the lock bolt having a notch b, and a knife c, the lock frame holding a tumbler catch adapted to engage the notch b in the bolt, and a fiat spring having a curved end adapted to support the tumbler catch, and the journal-box having a 4flange m, and slots '11, and h, the latter opening in the face of the seal frame, and a seal card, substantially as set forth.`

April '7, 1893.

BRADFORD SHERMAN SHAWV. Witnesses:

E. S. TENNENT, E. R. CLAYTON. 

